Projectile guns for use in training retriever dogs are known in the prior art and one such gun is manufactured according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,926. The retriever dummy or projectile gun according to this patent is currently marketed by Dogs Unlimited, Box 548, Jackson, Ohio 45640. Additional examples of the known prior art are contained in U.S. Pats. Nos. 3,004,360; 3,415,438; 3,618,244 and 3,717,946.
The commercial gun or dummy thrower according to the above-noted prior patent utilizes a 22 calibre blank cartridge to propel the dummy projectile and the device includes a handle which extends axially or longitudinally behind the cartridge chamber and projectile. A spring-loaded firing pin extends rearwardly of the handle and this pin is operated by one hand of the user while the other hand grips the axial handle. While the arrangement is very safe and the gun performs excellently for throwing retriever training dummies for great distances, the recoil forces generated by the gun render it very uncomfortable to use, and the hand of the user can easily be bruised or injured by the effects of recoil.
In view of the above, the sole objective of this invention is to improve on the above commercial retriever training device by providing thereon an attachment handle formed generally like a pistol hand grip and having resilient padding at least on the portion of the grip which is engaged by the palm and heel of the hand.
By means of the invention, not only is the use of the training gun rendered much more comfortable and the bruising of the hand by recoil forces avoided, but the gun can be held in a more steady and stable manner without interfering with the safe two-handed operation of the gun or dummy thrower.
An additional advantage of the invention is that the use of the improved pistol type hand grip allows the joining of two single projectile guns in side-by-side parallel relationship to form a unitized dual projectile gun with the same advantages of the single projectile type in terms of hand comfort and convenience and efficiency of use. It should be mentioned here that the commercial type gun or thrower to which the invention is applied breaks or hinges at the forward end of the handle for loading with a cartridge and then locks safely with the handle extending axially of the projectile or dummy. The addition of the invention to the assembly does not interfere in any way with this mode of operation, nor does it require altering or defacing of the commercial structure.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.